; S Jr^iilEC H 


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3 1 ! 

4 DKl.l VKllKI) I'.V : 

: HON. JOHN SHERMAN, ,1 


1, SECRETAKY OF THE TREASURY, 


ll 


< AT 

|: MANSFIELD, OHIO. 




I FRIDAY EVENING, AUGUST 17, 

i 


1877. \ 


\ WASHINGTON : 

< I'ltlNTKl) HY .JIMJD A: DKTW K 1 F, K K. 

\ 1877. 





o 



S P E E C I-I 



UKLIVEKED BY 



HON. JOHN SHERMAN, 



SECRETARY OF THE TREASURY, 



MANSFIELD, OHIO, 



FRIDAY EVENING, AUGU8T 17, 1877 



WASHINGTON : 
PRINTED BY JUDD & DETWEILER. 




1877. 



p~, 






1 



RECEPTION AND SPEECH OF MR. SHERMAN, 



[Frohi the MaiL^field llerald, AikjusI 2:}, 1877.] 

Secretary Sherman returned to his lioiiie in Mansfield last 
week in a (juiet way, but two or three persons knowing of his 
arrival until a day or two after. When his presence became 
generally known, his neighbors and friends, without respect to 
party, united in expressing a desire to tender him a reception. 
This fact was made known to Mr. Shek.man last Monday, in the 
following letter : 

Hon. John Shpjkmax : 

DeabSik: The undersigned, y^'m- townsmen and fellovv-citizeus of 
Richland county, desiie to give you some manifestation of tlie very high 
regard in which we hold your public services. We are glad to know that 
you are permitted to again be at your own home, and for a week or two 
mingle with us in all the unrestrained freedom of friends and townsmen. 
Financial and other public questions are, however, of importance to us 
always, and especially now. We recognize your great ability and long 
experience, and cannot but think that an expression of your views on 
these questions will be very highly prized by tlie people of Ohio, irre- 
spective of party. We, therefore, desire, with your sanction, on some 
day during the next week, to give you a hearty welcome to your old home, 
and shall be glad to have you, on the occasion, give your views on the 
public questions now of such vast imi)ortance to all. 

With our kindest regards, we are your friends, 

O. H. Booth, .1. H. Black, 

L. J. Tracy, W. S. Bradford, 

Jas. Pollock, P. Bigelow, 

T. W. Ford, G. F. Carpenter, 

L. Bowers, S. E. Fink, 

Jacob Hade, John A. Lee, 

J. G. Eggleston, Henry C. Hedges, 

Geo. U. Harn, D. Dirlam, 

M. E, Douglass, Wm. H. l<'arl)er, 

W. H. Hahn, .S. F. Bell. 

H. M. Weaver, Robert Bell, 

Jno. M. Jolley, A. Scattergood, 

A. A. Peck, (i. W. Blymyer, 



A. M. Burns, 

F. W. Strong, 
S. B. Leiter, 
C. S. Doolitell, 
Henry Hayle, 
J. Y. Cantwell, 
Jno. N. Mowrey, 
C. R. Taft, 

J. M. Waugh, 

G. W. DeCamp, 
Chas. L. Irwin, 
E. J. Forney, 
J. H. Sharp, 
H. L. Reed, 

J. S. Hedges, 
Geo. A. Clugston, 
N. S. Reed, 
J. H. Cook, 
Fred. Byrd, 
W. Helps, 
J. H. Wigle, 



Chas. B. Janaeson, 
F. E. Tracy, 
J. G. Spencer, 
Geo. C. Wise, 

D. Sturges, 
John Wood, 
T. R. Snoith, 

E. P. Sturgis, 
Thos. E. Douglas, 
A. E. Keyes, 

A. D. Perry, 
A. J. Twitchell, 
Wra. R. New Ion, 
W. H. Gilkisou, 
L. W. Nevius, 
W. P. Clarke, 
Robt. Maxwell, 
J. Leonard, 
S. Smith, 
W. W. Smith, 
William McCoy, 



And others. 
Mansfield, O., Aug. 10, 1877. 

Mr. Sherman replied as follows : 

Mansfield, Ohio, August lo, 1877. 
Gentlemen : I received with much pleasure your kindly letter of the 
10th iust., signed by so many of my old friends and neighbors in Mansfield 
and assure you of my high appreciation of yourgeneroiis words of courtesy 
and regard. 

I always return with satisfaction to my home on the eastern slopes of 
our little city, and always enjoy the fresh air and picturesque country 
around us, but, more than all, the cordial greetings of old friends, with 
whom I have been acquainted since boyhood. It will give me much 
pleasure, at any time or place, to meet you and to speak to you on current 
public questions, and I venture to name next Friday evening. 

Very truly yours, 

John Sherman. 
Messrs. O. H. Booth, W. S. Bradford, P. Bigelow, 
L. Tracy, and others. 

Arrangements were made accordingly to give the reception 
this evening in the Park. H. C. Hedges was selected as presi- 
dent of the occasion. 

The gathering to greet and listen to Secretary Sherman was 
one of the largest and most respectable, intelligent and orderly 
bodies that have come together in Mansfield for years. The 



5 

evening was delightful, cool and buhny, a bright moonlight ad- 
ding attraction to the scene. A stand, decorated with flags, had 
been erected near the center of the park, with seats in front, and 
lights gleamed on either hand, and particularly in the vicinity of 
the stand. The American Cornet band played several pieces 
while the people were gathering, and gave flattering evidence of 
growing proficiency. At 8 o'clock, Henry C. Hedges, Esq., 
came forward with the Secretary' and addressed him as follows : 

John Sherman : In 1854 — twenty-three years ago this fall — the 
people called you to represent them in the lower House of Con- 
gress. At each succeeding period of two years the call was re- 
peated—in 1856, 1858, and 1860. 

The great and good J^resident selected as one of his constitu- 
tional advisers, that matchless man Chase, then Senator of Ohio, 
and the people then, by their representatives in the General As- 
sembly, bade you occupy the seat in that most august body known 
to civilization, the United States Senate, thus vacated by Chase. 
Twice, thereafter, was the call repeated. 

In the lower House you took rank seldom accorded a new 
member, and, in the third Congress in which you sat, were the 
acknowledged leader of the House. Transferred to the Senate 
at the outbreak of the rebellion, your associates there were quick 
to perceive your capacity for great mental effort, and prompt to 
recognize it ; and so earl}- in your Senatorial life the chairman- 
ship of the most important committee — that of Finance — was 
conceded vou. But the country at large needed you — your large 
executive and financial ability in that most onerous and responsi- 
ble of all its departments, the department organized by the bril- 
liant genius of a Hamilton, and worthily filled by a long line of 
grand men, and forever graced by the incumbency of a Chase. 
We believe that the great office has never been filled more 
worthily, more ably, or more successfully, than by John Sher- 
man:* • 

Twenty-three years ago you went from us in the strength of 
your early numhood ; a quarter of a century nearly has elapsed ; 
a new generation has come and a generation has passed away, 
and during all these years you have been, and still are, charged 
with public trusts. 



On this, vour first, visit home since assuming your present 
high station, your neighbors, friends, townsmen, have regarded 
it as their duty to mark it as more tiian an ordinary occasion. 

We know tliat great ability alone will not command great suc- 
cess. We know tliat untiring energy and application, added to 
great ability, ivill not togttlur alone achieve renown; but great 
ability and untiring energy, with great integrity, have, and always 
}oill^ command great success, high renown, and untarnished dis- 
tinction. Such ability, such energy, such application, such in- 
tegrity we believe to be youi's. Such success you ha\e had : 
such renown you have achieved ; such honorable distinction is 
yours; and hence, regarding you as our friend, our neighbor, 
our townsman, we are glad and rejoice. 

We welcome you home, though your stay may be only a feu- 
days, and we sincereh^ trust that, rested by your stay, you may 
go back to your work reinvigorated, and that frequently we may 
have the pleasure of your temporary visits, and, in the future, 
when labors are finished, among us you may spend your old age, 
honored and happy. [Applause,] 

The Secretary was visibly affected b}' the warmth of his wel- 
come and the flattering allusions to his public services and pri- 
vate virtues, and by the reminiscences of his long and active 
career, so vividly brought into light. He responded feelingl}' 
and fittingly as follows : 

Fellow Citizens, Ladies and (jrentleinen. 

The kindly words of welcome uttered by my friend and asso- 
ciate of nuiny years move me beyond expression. They I'ccall to 
me the scene of the early time when I came to Mansfield, then a 
scattered hamlet of about 1100 inhabittints, without pavements 
and without any of the modern conveniences of cities and towns. 
As Mr. Hedges has told you, very many of those I then met here 
are dead and gone. T was a boy then. A generation has pju^sed 
away, and the sons of those I met then as citizens of l\ichi*wnd 
county now fill places of trust and responsibility. 1 have every 
reason in the world for being strongly attached to this town of 
Mansfield. You have always been kind to me. Here 1 studied 
law, here 1 practiced my profession for several years, here 1 mar- 
ried ray wife, a native of your town, here I have live(l ever since, 



and as the tiiiu* oomes, when tliis mortal coil shall be shuffled oft', 
here, probably, will my body rest witli your fathers. But par- 
don me, fellow-citizens, if, under the kind words of welcome of 
your spokesman, my old and honored friend, Mr. Hedges, I had 
forgotten that we are not here merely to exchange courtesies, 
but to discuss grave matters of far more importance than the life 
or memories of an individual. 

I am here to-night to state to you my views of Avliat has thus 
tar been done by the present Administration in its conduct of 
public aftairs. In doing so I wish it distinctly understood that 
T speak for myself alone, as a citizen of Ohio, to you my fellow- 
citizens and ray neighbors, to whom T am under the highest 
obligations of gratitude and duty. 

The President authorized me to say one thing, and one thing 
onlv, for him, and in his name, and that is that all reports that 
impute to him any participation whatever in the nomination of 
candidates on your State ticket, or any desire or purpose to in- 
fluence in anv way the Senatorial contest in Ohio, are utterly 
groundless. 

These are your mattei^s, and I can assure you for him, that he 
has not and will not, interpose in any such contest between 
political friends. 

For all else I say to you, neither he nor my old and lionored 
friend, Judge West, is responsible. 

You all know that 1 am now, and have been, warmly attached 
to the Republican party. I believe in its principles and honor its 
work. With my strong (;onvictions I could not conceal my 
partisan bias, or my earnest liope for the success of the Republi- 
can party, but the suVjjects of which I intend to speak to you to- 
night will not lead me to say much of former political struggles, 
or^o fight our old battles over again, but chiefiy to discuss the 

ACTUAI. ADMINISTRATIVE yUESTIOKS 

of the day as they have arisen since the fourth oi' Alarch last, 
and in all of wli'ich you are alike interested whether you may 
call yourselves Republicans or Democrats. As to these questions 
I wish fairly to appeal to the candor and good judgment of honest 
men of both parties, only asking for the administration of Presi- 



dent Hayes that considerate charity of judgment which must be 
extended to all human agents. 

When he was inaugurated he found thirty-six States in the full 
and uncontested exercise of all the powers of States in the Union. 
In two States oidy there were contests as to who was governor. 
Both contests had existed from Januar\' to March, 1877, while 
General Grant was President. 

In South Carolina Governor Chamberlain claimed to have been 
elected on the Republican ticket, and General Hampton on the 
Democratic ticket. The President is not made the judge of who 
is elected governor of a State, and an attempt to exercise such a 
power would be a plain act of usui-pation. 

THE CONSTITUTION OF SOUTH CAROLINA 

is much like that of Ohio. The count of the vote was to be 
made by the General Assembly of the State, Unfortunately for 
Chamberlain a controlling question in the contest had been de- 
cided against him by a Republican court, and he was only kept 
in possession of the State House l)y the actual presence of United 
States troops in the building. He had appealed again and again 
to President Grant to recognize him as Governor and to give 
him the aid of Federal troops in the enforcement of h'u: claim, 
which General (4 rant had refused, and sought only to preserve 
the public peace. When President Hayes was inaugurated both 
contestants were called to Washington and both were patiently 
heard and the questions presented were patiently and carefully 
examined. The President lield that a case was not presented in 
which, under the Constitution and the laws, he was justified in 
using the army of the United States in deciding a purely local 
election contest. 

The soldiers and bayonets of the United States were then 
withdraA\n from the State House — not from the State, nor the 
capital of the State, but from the building in Avhich the Legisla- 
ture, that alone could lawfully decide this contest, nmst meet. 
This was all that was done by the President, and Governor 
Chamberlain, without fnrthoi- contesting his claim, abandoned it 
and left tlie State. 

I say to you now tliat, strongly as 1 desired the success of 
Governor Chamberlain and the Republican party in South Caro- 



Una, the T'resident had not a shadow of right to hiterpose thp 
power of the army in this contest, and his attempt to do so 
would have been rash and abortive as well as without legal right. 

THE CASE OF LOUISIANA 

was far more difficult. The local returning otiicers of that 
State had, after a full examination, certified to the election of the 
Legislature, showing a Republican majority in both Houses. 
This had been done by excluding from their return the votes of 
certain parishes and counties wherein intimidation, violence and 
fraud, had prevailed to an extent sufficient to change the result 
of the election. I was present, at the request of General Grant, 
to witness the count, and I assure you, as I have said officially, 
that the proof of this intimidation, violence and fraud, extending 
to murder, cruelty and outrage in every form was absolutely 
conclusive, showing a degree of violence in some of those par- 
ishes that was more revolting and barbarous than anything I 
could conceive of It was plain that the returning officers had 
the legal right to pass upon and certify in the first instance, who 
were elected members of the Legislature, and that they w-ere 
justified by the evidence in excluding bull-dozed parishes, but it 
was equally clear that tiieir return was not conclusive upon the 
members elected, and that each house had the Constitutional 
right to pass upon the returns, and elections of its members, and 
to set aside the action of the Returning Board. 

THE TWO HOUSES 

when organized, had also the power to pass upon the returns of 
the election of Governor, and they alone and no one else. 
Neither the President of the United States nor the Returning 
Board has any power or right to pass upon the election of Gov- 
ernor. And here the difficulty in the Louisiana case commences. 
Governor Packard contends that a majority of the two Houses, 
as duly returned, did pass upon the election of Governor, and did 
return that he w^as duly elected, but this w^as stoutly denied by Gov- 
ernor Nichols. This vital point was strongly asserted and denied 
by the adverse parties, and the Legislature of Louisiana divided 
into two hostile bodies, holding separate sessions, each asserting its 
legal power, and denouncing the other as rebels and traitors. 
2 



10 

GOVKRNOK I'ArKAHIt ANI> MIS l-KOlSJ-ATUliE 

called upon President Grant fcjr the aid of the army to put down 
insurrection and domestic violence ; and here I confess that if 
I had been President instead of General Grant, 1 would have 
recognized Packard and sustained him with the full power of 
the General Government. My intense feeling caused by the atro- 
cities in Louisiana may have unduly influenced me. But Gen- 
eral Grant did not think this was his duty. I do not criticise his 
action, but only state the facts. He would only maintain the peace. 
He would not recognize Packard as Governor, but I know what 
is now an open secret, the strong bent of his mind, and at one 
time his decision was to withdraw the troops, to recognize Nich- 
ols and thus end this dangerous contest. He did not do this, but 
kept the peace. 

But during these two months the whole condition of affairs had 
slowly changed in Louisiana. The government of Packard had 
dwindled away until it had scarcely a shadow of strength or au- 
thority, except at the State House, where it was upheld by 
Federal bayonets. 

THE GOVERNMENT OF NICHOLS 

had extended its authority over the State and was in full exist- 
ence as the (k-facto government of Louisiana, supyiorted \)y the 
great body of the white men and nearly all the wealth and in- 
tellegence of the State, and by the tired ac(iuiescence of a large 
portion of the colored people, some of whom deserted his legis- 
lature and entered that of Governor Nichols. The delay and 
hesitation of General Grant had l)een fatal to Packard, and 
when Hayes became President the practical question was greatly 
changed. One thing was clear, that a Legislature had been duly 
elected in November previous, and was then in existence, though 
separated into two parts. If the members lawfully elected could 
be convened, they alone could decide the question of who was 
(•rovernor without the intervention of troops, and their decision 
could be supported, it" nt'ccssary, by the General Government. 

The most anxious considcratioji was given to this question. 
Days and weeks of anxious deliberation were given to it by the 
President and his cabinet. But one way seemed open for 



11 



A PEACKFUl. SOLUTION, 



and tliat was to gather, il' possil>le, a single Legislature who could 
be recognized as tlie depository of the representative will of the 
people of Louisiana. It this could he done it had the unques- 
tioned right to decide wlio had been elected Governor, and all 
other questions would settle themselves. To aid in this object, a 
commission of the most eminent men, high in position from dif- 
ferent States and distinguished for judicial impartiality, was 
selected, and the result is known to all. They went to Louisiana, 
and, with great difficulty, brought together these hostile Legis- 
latures, which met, organized, promptly settled the question in 
dispute in favor of the government of Nichols, and thus ended 
this most dangerous controversy. No other change was made, 
no other act done except when the solution was almost accom- 
plished, the few troops who had occu[)ied the State House were 
withdrawn a few squares away, to their barracks. Thus in this 
peaceful appeal to the Legislature of Louisiana, this controversy, 
which not only endangered the })eace and safety of this State, 
but the peace and safety of the whole people of the United States, 
was settled. This is the sum and substance of all that was done 
in the Southern policy, as it is called, of the President. Perhaps 
I ought to state that his policy has a broader motive than a mere 
settlement of a local election contest. It seeks to bring the North 
and South again into conditions of harmony and fraternity, and, 
by a frank appeal to the generous impulses and patriotic feeling 
of all classes of people in the South, to secure, not only peace 
among themselves, but the equal protection of the laws to all, 
and security in the enjoyment of political and civil rights. 

RESULT IN LOUISIANA. 

No doul>t the result in Louisiana caused some disappointment 
to many Republicans throughout the United States, who deeply 
sympathized with their Republican brethren in that State. I 
did, and do, share in that feeling, and yet 1 feel and know that 
every step taken by President Hayes was right, in strict accord- 
ance with his constitutional duty, and from the highest motives 
of patriotism. Some are foolish enough to talk of his abandon- 
ing the colored people and their constitutional rights. Presi- 



12 

dent Hayes from his early manhood, has been an anti-slavery 
man; his life was imperiled on many battle fields in the great 
cause of libert}', he sympathizes more and will do more for the 
equal rights of the colored people than those who falsely accuse 
him; and I believe this day that the policy he has adopted will 
do more to secure the full practical enforcement of those rights 
than the employment of an army tenfold greater than the army 
of the United States. 

THE EQUAL RIGHTS OF FREEDMEN 

are now placed on the same constitutional footing as ours. Un- 
armed, unorganized, defenceless and ignorant as they have been, 
they can only realize the full enjo^'ment of their rights when 
education dispels their ignorance, and teaches them how to de- 
fend their rights. The policy of the President will make it 
possible in the Gulf States for them to secure the aid and sympa- 
thy of an influential portion of the whites. It has also secured 
to them tlie pledge of honor of the local State governments to 
[irotect every man in full equal, civil and political rights. No 
people can be more interested in observing this pledge than the 
governing white men of the South. The ultimate safety of their 
life and property depends upon it. The people of the United 
States will hold them to it, and now, when by this 

POLICY OF PRESIDENT HAYES 

they have what they call home rule, upon their self-proclaimed 
promise that home rule means the equal protection in equal civil 
and political rights of all, they have to fulfill this promise or 
stand dishonored before the civilized world. The amendments 
to the Constitution will stand, and they will be enforced, but it 
is far better this shall be done by the consent of all, in the 
interest of all, then by the agency of an army. Constitutional 
rights can only be secured by legal means. The whole Southern 
policy of President Hayes is to secure constitutional rights not 
only b}' legal but by peaceful means, by an appeal to the interest 
and honor of all classes; but, if this fails, if I do not greatly err, 
he will not be wanting in the exercise of the full powers of hia 
great office to secure the civil rights of all, without distinction of 
r^ce, color or condition. 



Another question of administration promptly received the at- 
tention of President Hayes. 

It has been the standing promise of both political parties for 
fifty years to secure 

CIVIL SERVICE REFORM, 

without defining- what was meant by this phrase — but old 
abuses grew and new abuses were devised by which the civil 
service of the government was largely made an agency to control 
the action of parties, and to influence the rising or falling for- 
tunes of politicians, while the public service was a secondary 
consideration. Upon this subject the President had clear and 
radical views, and has not hesitated, against the opposition of 
many in his own [larty, to enter upon the reform of these abuses. 
Whether true or not, it has been believed that the Custom-house 
in New York, the great agency for the collection of the duties 
on imported goods, was especially open to these abuses, and that 
the public interests were sacrificed to the advancement of the 
political and pecuniary interests of individuals. The President 
directed that 

A THOROUGH INVESTIGATION, 

free from political bias, should be made there by independent 
men of both parties, aimed not at individuals, but at the system 
itself. It was in the progress of this investigation that he issued 
the order about- which so much complaint has been made. 
Here it is : 

" No oflBcer should be required or permitted to take part in the manage- 
ment of political organizations, caucuses, conventions or election cam- 
paigns. Their right to vote and to express their views on public ques- 
tions, either orally or through the press, is not denied, provided it does 
not interfere with the discharge of their ofBcial duties. No assessment 
for political purposes on officers or subordinates, should be allowed." 

This order was promptly met with denunciation as an invasion 
of the rights of individuals, and its meaning and purport grossly 
perverted. 

IN THE WESTERN COUNTRY, 

where our political movements are more free from the influence 
of oflice-holders, there has always been a strong popular feeling 
against the interposition of machine politicians. The people 



14 

liere are abunduutly able, without the aid of office-hohlers, to 
manage their conventions, caucuses and organizations, and it has 
always been a matter of complaint even in onr counties and 
cities whenever rings of otKce-holders are formed, who are offen- 
sively ofiicious in controlling pO})ular conventions, and, as a rule, 
such things have not been tolerated. But in the great cities the 
office-holders are selected, not only to be active at the election or 
to influence the election, but to run the machinery by which 
nominations are made, and caucuses held. They select dele- 
gates to conventions, pay tlieir expenses, control tlieir votes, 
appear as president, secretary, or guiding genius of the conven- 
tion, and thus the whole machinery of politics is an ttffice-holding 
monopoly, offensive to the mass of the peopK-, and tending to 
prevent the just control of political movements by free, unbiased 
popular opinion. 

It was this abuse, the greatest of all, thai the Trcsidciit struck 
directly at. The President has not, and never did, ol)ject to the 
most active men Ijeing appointed to, and aspiring for, office. He 
would naturally select from among the most active men in private 
life those who are to hold puljlic offices, and. other things being- 
equal, would select one of his own party, rather than one of the 
adverse party. At all events that is my own view. I think it 
would be a shade dishonorable for a man to seek an office from 
the party whose success and principles he opposed, though he 
may accept an office tendered to him. It is -natural that, in 
selecting men for office from the great political organizations 
composed of large masses of people, friends rather than adver- 
saries should be selected. But there are occasions where 

THE PARTY LINE 

should not ha drawn, and, in all cases, where parties put up bsid 
men it is the first bounden duty of every good citizen to refuse 
to vote for them, and thus compel the selection ol" the best men 
for office. But where anyone has attained oflice, either by ap- 
pointment or election, lie ought not to consider that he is, theie- 
fore to be the ruling, guiding manager df conventions and cau- 
cuses, with a view to put up this Kepublican and put down 
another, or to [mil down this Democrat to put up another. He 
ought to hold his office with seendy modesty, leasing to the 



jteoplc to run tlio miicliiiu'rv of tlu'ir nwu political organizations. 
There never was and never will he danger in our system that 
tlie necessary niovements of the jteople need the guidance oi" 
paid office hohh-rs. Of late the intluence of office holding in 
politics has grown worse and worse. When, eighteen years ago, 
I heard a prominent mend>er of the House of Representatives 
declare that it cost liini 

FIFTEEN THOUSAND DoM- ARS Pn HE Er,KCTEI>, 

r was happy to respond for you that if 1 had spent live hundred 
dollars in securing my election I would have heen defeated, and 
I can say in your presence, for you know it, that the custom then 
prevailing prevented any large expenditure of money, and that, 
though four times elected to Congress in this district, I did not, 
and could not, without danger to myself, spend any considerable 
sums on my election. But of late the expenses of popular elec- 
tions have so increased that we are in danger of the very evils 
that for a hundred years disgraced the election of the members 
of the House of Commons, and led to laws of the greatest severity 
against bribery and corruption. 

I believe in the order of the President, and hope he will stand 
by it, and if he adds to the good work of his administration, the 
breaking down of tins office-holding officiousness in the manage- 
ment of cami.aigns, this running of caucuses and conventions by 
office-holders, and forced assessment from un^^ illing office-holders 
for political purposes, and will secure to the people a free, un- 
biased control of their primary movements in the election of 
officers, he will have accomplished a work second only in impor- 
tance to the pacification of the South. 

The order of the President does not interfere with the right of 
any officer to vote or to express his views on public questions, 
either orally or through the press, and I, at your invitation, 
talk to you to-day ; but you would regard it as offensive if I 
should undertake to manipulate your conventions to secure 1:he 
nomination of personal friends, or interfere in any way with 
your free clioice in popular movements. And this is all that the 
order oi' President Hayes undertakes to prevent. 



16 

A r > M 1 N I sr U A T I \' V. n h FORM. 

I come now to speak of some Administrative reforms tliat are 
usuallj^ the subject of demagogical promises, but are always an 
imperative duty, and which I can fairly claim has been faithfully 
performed by this administration. 

The expenses of the Goverment in many branches were un- 
necessarily large, and have been reduced with much advantage 
to you, but it was painful to execute it, from the necessity of dis- 
charging a large number of emplo^^es. This has been done in 
all the Departments, but mainly in the Treasury Department, 
which, from the nuignitude of its operations, employs through- 
out the United States about twelve thousand persons. In one 
bureau alone, that of Engraving and Printing, the force was re- 
duced 505 persons, making an annual saving of §360,000. 

In the New York Custom House the number of employes has 
already been reduced 176, making a saving of |255,020, and 
this process has not yet ended at that port. At Baltimore the 
number of employes reduced was 52, and the amount saved was 
S47,297. 

In the New Orleans Custom House the number of employes 
has been reduced 87, making a saving of |95,455. In San Fran- 
cisco the reduction, not yet completed, is estimated to amount 
to $73,440, in Philadelphia to $56,750, and in Boston to $122,740. 
In other ports of the United States the number of employes reduced 
is 48, making a saving of $47,154, and eight appraisers, in ports 
where their services are no longer needed, have been dispensed 
Avith, at a saving of $23,500. Making a reduction in the customs 
service since the 4th of March, 1877, of $721,356 a year. This 
process will be extended to all the Internal Revenue officers of 
the United States with a very large saving of expense. 

THE TOTAL ANNUAL REDUCTION 

made thus far in the rents paid by the United States for build- 
ings in public use by the Treasury Department, is $58,852, and 
as leases fall in this reduction will be largely increased. 

Contracts for cutting the stone for several of the larger public 
buildings were founded upon the principle of the Government 
paying to the contractors the cost of the labor and material em- 



17 

ployed ill tlie cutting, uiid fifteen per cent, added thereto. The 
contract for the erection of the building for the use of the State, 
War, and Navy Departments, was so changed as to reduce its 
cost over $700,000, Contracts for the supply of cut granite for 
the Court House at Philadelphia and the Custom House at Cin- 
cinnati, have been modified in such manner as will effect a sav- 
ing of $450,000. Similar changes are to be made in the contracts 
for cut stone for the St. Louis Custom House, and extension of 
the Post Office and Sul)-Treasury at Boston, which will dou})tless 
be equally favorable to the (Tovernment. 

A STILL MORE DANGEROUS CLASS 

of payments from the Treasury was for old claims, pending in 
the Treasury Department, many of them founded upon ex parte 
testimony and believed to be fraudulent. Many of these have 
been suspended or rejected, and new rules in regard to such 
claims have been adopted, which will save to the Treasury large 
sums of money, and I hope Congress may be disposed at its next 
session to revise the whole mode of accounting and paying these 
claims, which, in many cases, exposes the GcA^crnment to open 
and glaring fraud. 

I have only cited these principal cases of administrative reform, 
which will be made to extend to every branch of the Govern- 
ment, and, no doubt, will receive the hearty co-operation of Con- 
gress, The only rule in the conduct of public business is that 
which a prudent man would adopt in his own. The Government 
ought not to be niggardly and stingy in public disbursements; 
it ought to receive no labor or service that it does not fairly pay 
for; but a waste of public money, not only makes a premium to 
office-holding, but demoralizes all who are engaged in it. A 
close and careful readjustment of the civil service upon the basis 
of correct business principles will bring our national expenditures 
witliin the amount of such moderate taxes on whisky, tobacco, 
and beer, and a reasonal)ly moderate duty on imported goods, as, 
while furnishing protection to our own industries, will not crip- 
ple our commerce or place our industries at a disadvantage in 
foreign competition. I believe the 



18 

ADMINISTRATION IS PERFECTLY WILLING 

to share with Congress in tlie hibor of these essential reforms in 
our civil service. 

Much the largest reduction in the public expenditure has been 
effected in the reduction of interest on the public debt. 

The great body of the public debt is now payable at the 
pleasure of the United States at par in coin. As this debt now 
bears an interest of six per cent., it is manifest that if money can 
be borrowed at a less rate the old bonds can be paid off, and the 
reduced interest lessens to that extent the burden of the debt. 
Prior to the first of March my predecessor had sold fifty millions 
4^ per cent, bonds at par in coin, the proceeds of which had been 
applied to the redemption of six per cent, bonds. Since the first 
of March there have been sold, under the refunding act, 
$135,000,000 41 per cent, bonds, and that amount of six per cent, 
bonds have been paid off or are being paid off, and canceled, 
thus saving to the people of the United States $2,025,000 in coin 
for this year, and each year hereafter. 

In May last I became satisfied that the credit of the Govern- 
ment was so advanced, and the money market was so favorable, 
that I could sell at par in coin, bonds of the United States bear- 
ing interest at four per cent, per annum, and, with the sanction 
of the President, I took the responsibility of withdrawing from 
sale one hundred millions of 4| per cent, bonds, and substituting 
four per cent, bonds. There was great doubt among bankers and 
business men here and in Europe, of the ability to sell these 
bonds at par, and I had plenty of advice not to undertake the 
task. Germany, now one of the great powers of the world, had 
recently offered her four per cent, bonds at a discount of more 
than five per cent. The Russian government, now under the 
stress of war, was selling its bonds at such a rate that they yielded 
over eight per cent. The Portugese government had issued a 
three per cent, loan at about fifty per cent discount. Great Bri- 
tain, the highest in credit of all the great nations, had sold her 
three per cent, consols at a large discount, and now although 
they are a perpetual annuity, they are daily quoted at from 
ninety-four to ninety-five per cent. Still with the favorable con- 
dition of the money market, with industries paralyzed through- 



19 

out the world, money lying idle in great hounU, with .air credit 
untarnished, our nation confessedly among the leading powers 
of the world, with great resources. I helicved that tlie public 
interest and public duty demanded that the efibrt to sell these 
four per cent, bonds should be made, and that it would be suc- 
cessful. 

THE GREAT NATIONAL LOAN 

was opened by popular subscription in the United States on 
the 10th of June, and within tliirty days afterward ^67,600,000 
were taken in this country and $10,200,000 in Europe, making 
$77,800,000 sold. This sum, when paid and applied to the pay- 
ment of 6 per cent, bonds will make an annual saving to the 
people of the United States of $1,556,000. The aggregate of the 
saving from both classes of bonds since the 1st of March, 1877, 
will be $3,581,000 a year in coin. 

And this process of saving has just commenced. We may 
confidently hope that, if no adverse legislation shall be had that 
will injuriously aft'ect the public credit, the entire amount of the 
public debt bearing interest at over four per cent., now amoun- 
ting to nearly $1,700,000,000, may, as it becomes redeemable, be 
converted into bonds not exceeding four cent. 

SPECIE PAYMENTS. 

And now, fellow-citizens, this brings me to the question upon 
which there is so much diversity of opinion, so many strange 
delusions, and that is, the question of specie payments. What 
do we mean by this phrase ? Is it that we are to have no paper 
money in circulation? If so I am as much opposed to it as any 
of you. Is it that we are to retire our greenback circulation? 
If so I am opposed to it, and have often so said. What I mean 
by specie payments is simply that paper money ought to be made 
equal to coin, so that when you receive it, it will buy as much 
beef, corn or clothing as coin. 

Now the importance of this cannot be overestimated. A de- 
preciated paper money cheats and robs every man who receives 
it, of a portion of the reward of his labor or production, and, in all 
times, it has been treated by statesmen as one of the greatest 
evils that can befall a people. There are times when such money 



20 

is unavoidable, as durin<^ war or great pul)lio calaiuitj, but it has 
ahvays been the anxious care of statesmen to return again to the 
solid standard, coin. Therefore it is that specie payments, or a 
specie standard, is pressed by the great body of intelligent men 
who study these questions, as an indispensable prerequsite for 
stead}' business and good times. 

Xow, most of you will agree to all this, and will only differ as 
to the mode, or time, and manner ; but there is a large class of 
people who believe that paper can be, and ought to be, made 
into money without any promise or hope of redemption : that a 
note should be printed: 

'' THIS IS A DOLLAR,'' 

and be made a legal tender. 

I regard this as a mild form of lunacy, and have no disposition 
to debate with men who indulge in such delusions. They have 
prevailed to some extent at different times in all countries, but 
their life has been brief, and they have ever shared the fate of 
other popular delusions. Congress will never entertain such a 
proposition, and, if it should, we know that the scheme would 
not stand a moment before the Supreme Court. That court only 
maintained the constitutionality of the legal tender promise to 
pay a dollar by a divided court, and on the ground that it was 
issued during the war, as in the nature of a forced loan, to be re- 
deemed upon the payment of a real dollar; that is, so many 
grains of silver or gold. 

I therefore dismiss such wild theories, and speak only to those 
who are willing to assume, as an axiom on this subject, that gold 
and silver, or coined money, have been proven by all human ex- 
perience to he the best possihle standards of value, and that paper 
money is simply a })romise to pay such coined money, and should 
be made and kept equal to coined money by being convertible on 
demand. 

Now, the (jucstion is as to the time and mode by which this 
may be brought about, and on this subject no man should be 
dogmatic, oi- stand without yielding, upon a plan of his owni, but 
should be willing to give and take, securing the best expedient 
that public opinion will allow to be adopted. The purpose and 
obligation to bring our [(aper money to the standard of coin have 



21 

been over and over again announced by acts of Congress and by 
the platforms of the great political parties of the countr}-. 

IF RESOLUTIONS AND PROMISES 

would bring about si)ecie payments, we would have been there long 
ago ; but the diversity of opinion as to the mode now — twelve years 
after the close of the war — still leaves our paper money at a dis- 
count of five per cent. Until this is removed there will be no 
new enterprises involving great sums, no active industries, but 
money will lie idle and watch and wait the changes that may be 
made before we reach the specie standard. 

In 1869 C'ongress pledged the public faith that the United 
States would pay gold or silver dollars for United States notes. 
Again, in January, 1875, after more than a year's debate, Con- 
gress declared that by the 1st of January, 1879, the United States 
would pay its notes in coin. 

The Secretary of the Treasury is expressly required to prepare 
for, and maintain, the redemption of all United States notes pre- 
sented at the Treasury on and after that date, and for that pur- 
pose he is authorized to use all the surplus revenue, and to sell 
bonds of the United States bearing four, four and one-half and 
five per cent, interest at par in coin. It is this law, called the 
Resumption Act, now so much discussed in the papers, that 
imposes upon the office I hold, most difficult and important 
duties, and without replying to any attacks made upon me, I am 
anxious to convey to you, personally, what I have done and must 
do in obedience to the provisions of this act. It is said that the 
law is defective, but, if the great object and policy of the law is 
right, the machinery of the law could easily be changed by Con- 
gress. That resumption can be secured and ought to be secured 
under this law, it will be my purpose to show you, and I shall 
not hesitate to point out such defects in the law as have occurred 
to me in its execution. 

THK MODES OF RESUMPTION. ' 

There are two modes of resumption, either to diminish the 
amount of notes to be redeemed, which is commonly called a 
contraction of the currency, or by the accumulation of coin in 
the Treasury, to enable the Secretary to maintain resumption. 



22 

The one practical defect in the law is, that tlic Secretary is not 
at liberty to sell bonds of the United States for United States 
notes, but must sell them for coin. As coin is not in circulation 
among the people, he is practically prohibited from selling bonds 
to the people, except by an evasion of the law or through private 
parties. Bonds are in demand and can readily be sold at par in 
coin, and still easier at par, or at a premium, in United States 
notes. The process of selling for United States notes need not 
go far before the mere fact that they are receivable for bonds 
would bring them up to par in coin, and that is specie payments. 
But the reason of the refusal of Congress to grant this au- 
thority, often asked of it, was that it would contract the currency, 
and this fear of contraction has thus far prevented Congress 
from granting the easiest, plainest, and surest mode of resump- 
tion. To avoid contraction, it provided that national bank notes 
may be issued without limit as to amount, and that, when issued, 
United States notes miglit be retired to the extent of four-tifths 
of the bank notes issued. This was the only provision for re- 
deeming United States notes that Congress made or would make, 
and this, it was supposed, would reduce the United States notes 
to $300,000,000 before January 1, 1879. The actual experiment 
only proves the folly of the cry we had for more money, more 
money. 

HERE WAS FREE BANKING, 

A free and almost unlimited right to everybody to issue more 
money, but unluckily for visionary theorists, it was money that 
had to be secured, not wild cat money, but money that people 
could sleep upon without fear of breaking. The result was that 
under free banking the issue of circulation has been far less than 
was expected, and, therefore, the reduction of United States notes 
was less. Still there was some reduction. 

Greenbacks have been retired under the act of January, 1875, 
to this time to the amount of $22,905,700 and near twenty-nine 
millions of circulation were issued to National Banks. 

Since the first of March last the reduction of United States 
notes has been $5,142,2G4, and this reduction was preceded by 
new circulation issued to banks, amounting to near $6,500,000. 

I do not say that this is the only reduction of the currency that 



23 

has happened, but it is the only reduction that was made by the 
United States. The national banks, under a difi'erent law, and 
from the very necessity of free banking, are at liberty to retire 
their currency as well as to increase it, and this has been done 
by them since the 1st of January, 1875, to the amount of 
$86,624,612. But this is a reduction effected by each bank, 
guided by its own interest, and the circulation it can safely and 
prudently maintain. 

There are now deposited with the Treasury by private corpo- 
rations banks and individuals, $57,170,000 of United States notes. 
Of this there were deposited by the National Banks at their last 
statement, made June 22d, $44,450,000, and they have in the 
cash reserve held by them, $42,500,000 more than the amount 
required by law, clearly showing that there is no want of cur- 
rency when demanded for the requirements of business. 

Since January 1, 1877, the United States has issued $34,236,000 
of silver coin, and has redeemed with that $21,980,000 fractional 
currency, now almost superseded by silver coin, and also holds 
$8,160,858 of United States notes for the redemption of fractional 
currency still outstanding. In this there was no contraction but 
a substitution of coin for fractional currency. 

It was an error to make the retirement of United States notes 
depend upon the issue of bank notes. The two had no relation 
to each other, but the retirement of United States notes should 
depend entirely upon the amount necessary to be withdrawn, to 
advance within the limited time the residue to par in coin, and 
the simplest mode of doing this was to authorize 

THEIR CONVERSION INTO BONDS 

at the pleasure of the holder, the bonds to bear the lowest rate 
of interest that would in ordinary times be maintained at par in 
gold. To this the objection is made that we convert a non- 
interest bearing note into an iuterest bearing note, but what 
right have we as a nation, or has any l)ank or iiKlividual, to force 
into circulation as money its note, upon which it pays no interest? 
Why ought not anyone who issues a promise to pay on demand 
be made to pay it when demanded or pay interest thereafter? 
What right has he in law or justice, to insist upon maintaining 
in circulation his note which he refuses to pay according to his 



24 

promise, and which he refuses to receive in payiiieiit of a note 
bearing interest ? A certain amount of United States notes can 
be, and ought to be, maintained at par in coin, with the aid of a 
moderate coin reserve hehl in the Treasury, and to the extent 
that this can be done they form the best possible paper money, a 
debt of the people without interest, of e(|ua] value with coin, and 
more convenient to carry and handle. Beyond this the right to 
issue paper money, either by the Government or bauks, is a 
dangerous exercise of power, injurious to all classes, and should 
not continue a single day beyond the necessities that gave it birth. 
But, if Congress should see proper to confine the process of 
resumption to the present law, we have still 

THE SECOND MODE 

of resuming, by accumulating coin gradually, so that when the 
time fixed for resumption arrives, the Treasury may be able to 
redeem such notes as are presented. In this respect the resumji- 
tion act is as full and liberal as human language can frame it. 
The Secretary is authorized to prepare for resumption, and for 
that purpose to use the surplus revenue and sell either of the 
three classes of bonds, all of which are now at or above par in 
coin. The power can be, ought to be, and will be executed if not 
repealed. 

This accumulation, both in silver and gold, can be made by 
arresting from exportation our own production of these metals. 
This is more than sufhcient to supply our wants for this purpose, 
and, fortunately, we have plenty of other productions — corti, 
cotton, wheat and fabrics, the fruit of our industry, for export, 
This counti'y is tlie greatest producer of gold and silver in the 
world. The balance of foreign trade is in our favor. During 
the last fiscal year our exports exceeded imports in gold value 
the sum of $166,555,855, and this balance is steadily increasing. 

This year providence has blessed us with an enormous cro[) of 
almost every production of the farm or plantation, and the tV)r- 
eign demand is largely increased by the Russian war. Russia is 
our great competitor in supplying Europe with bread, and siic 
now will consume her own products. We have now reached the 
coin basis in the production of commodities for the foreign 
jnarket. 



25 

OUK EXPORTATION OF HOME FABRICS 

has increased and is increasing, and we are now competing witli 
Manchester and Birmingham in the sale of products, that have 
made those cities famous throughout the worhl. 

Our manufactures of cotton, iron and wool, now rival in for- 
eign markets, the oldest countries of Europe. 

We have during the five months of President Hayes made an 
actual accumulation of currency, and of gold and silver coin and 
bullion, of $44,340,832. From the tirst of May to this time we 
have added to our coin reserve $20,000,000 by the sale of bonds, 
without disturbing the money market and with gold steadily on 
the decline. We have reduced the public debt since the first of 
March the sum of $29,441,824. We have conducted the vast 
operations of our loans, already referred to, without disturbing 
the course of trade or causiug a shipment in gold. All the fears 
expressed so often in the papers, at tliese movements, have been 
rpoven to V)e groundless. 

We are now^ within five degrees of the specie standard. We 
have still seventeen months before us in which to complete the 
task. The same progress that has been made since the first of 
March, continued twelve months longer, will certainly bring us 
to the specie standard. 1 feel confident in saying to you this 
day that, if undisturbed with or without a change of the law, 
every dollar of ITnited States notes will before the time fixed for 
resumption buy as much as an equal amount in either gold or 
silver. 

A CONSTRUCTION OF THE RESUMl'TION ACT 

has often been pressed upon the De])artment that, if correct, 
would make it still more easy to carry it into execution. It is 
insisted tliat the Secretary has the power, in preparing for re- 
gumption, to sell bonds for coin, and then to sell the coin for 
United States notes to be hoarded in preparation for resumption. 
The Department has not acted upon any such construction, but 
has sold gold only in the current course of business, or for the 
actual red^^^mption' of notes supplanted by National Bank notes. 
If this power is exercised, it should only be in pursuance of the 
plain will of Congress, and, in the execution of so delicate a 
duty, no power should be used except such as is clearly given. 
4 



26 

Tlie act of April, 1876, tor the redemption of ti-actional cur- 
rency, provides that silver coin may be issued in exchange for 
United States notes, and such notes shall be kept as a special 
fund for the redemption of fractional currency. This fund and 
the ordinary currency balance in the Treasury is the only paper 
money of its own. The coin and legal tenders deposited in the 
Treasury are the property of private individuals, over which the 
Treasur}^ has no control. 

I have, fellow citizens, I hope without wearisome detail, gone 
over some points on this question of resumption. It is a dull, 
but important topic, which affects 3'our daily life, upon which my 
othcial duty compels me to act, and I assure you that I have only 
acted upon the clearest convictions of public interest. 

A currency of United States notes based upon the public 
credit, always convertible into coin, and so limited in amount 
and supported by reserves, that its convertibility cannot be en- 
dangered, and supplemented by a bank currency free and open 
to all alike, based upon public securities, so that in any event the 
note holder is safe from loss, always redeemable in coin or United 
States notes, unlimited in amount except by the wants of busi- 
ness — this is the kind of paper money that Avill t^tart again the 
wheels of industry, give sails to your commerce, labor to your 
artisans. This, indeed, would be the 

BEST PAPER CURRENCY IX THE WORLD. 

Let this currency be supported by a public credit against which 
a whisper or a doubt cannot be uttered, and your public debt 
will be reduced to its lowest possible burden of interest, and will 
become the great depository of the savings of labor, the trustee 
of the widow and orphan, the safe rest of capital not employed 
in active industries. 

These, as I understand them, are the great linancial objects of 
this Administration, and with your permission and the sanction 
of Congress, the President may hope to celebrate his out-going 
with your debt reduced to four per cent., and every note of the 
United States worth par in the best coin issued from the mint. 
You now occupy the forefront of this l)attle. I beseech you to 
upliold his hands, and not let the delusions of the hour or the 



::< 



temporai'3' languor of l)usiiiess, vvliicli you share with tlic civil- 
ized world, turn you from a policy which you have sanctioned 
and can now hope to realize. 



HARD TIMBtJ. 



It is very common, fellow-citizens, to hold the Government 
responsible for hard times caused by the ebb and How of trade 
and production. If the crop fails, the Administration is abused. 
If wages or prices fall, the Government is blamed. If i)roduc- 
tion exceeds the market made by consumption, it is easier to 
abuse some officer of the Government than to iind out the real 
cause. And so it happens that, under any Government, what- 
ever may be its form, if a panic, or hard times, or over produc- 
tion, or a pestilence, famine or plague comes, the men in office 
are made the scape-goats for troubles which it is far beyond their 
power either to produce or remedy. And so now, when through- 
out the world trade is languishing, and wages have fallen, and 
industry does not meet its usual reward, it is quite common for 
demagogues to say, " turn out the Administration and put us in 
and all will be lovely." Such arguments are only fit for fools. 
Human governments can have but little influence over the causes 
that produce the rise and fall of prices, the abundance or want of 
einployment. These are governed by higher laws, and the pup- 
pets that for the time hold official authority have as little 
influence over these great movements as flies have over the re- 
volving wheel. At this time our country is the most prosperous 
in the" world, though we suflfer, to some extent, from the same 
causes that bring stagnation to the industries of all commercial 
countries. 

I have here copious extracts from English, Belgian, German, 
and French papers, all nations of wealth and power in profound 
peace, and all showing extreme adversity and depression m 
trade and prices. 

The iron trade in England has passed through extreme depres- 
sion. During its course some of the largest and v.-ealthiest 
manufacturing concerns had to succumb to the severe reaction, 
while operatives suftered in the greatest degree by the increased 
supply of labor and greatly diminished prices. 



28 



THE IRON TKADK 



in Hn»^liin(l has fallen nearly fifty per cent. The Belgian iron 
trade was almost extinguished and the workmen employed 
driven to other pursuits. This industry is the one that has suf- 
fered most in our own country, while we are rapidly recovering 
hy unhounded natural resources, and by reduced cost of produc- 
tion. I have before me an English paper showing that the ex- 
ports from Manchester of cotton fabrics, especially to the 
United States, have been largely reduced. The amount of cot- 
ton goods shipped to this country has l)efcn reduced in five years 
from 129,000,000 yards to 59,000,000 yards; of woolen goods 
from 6,000,000 yards to 1,478,000 yards ; \vhile our own produc- 
tion has enormously increased, and we are now exporting both 
cottons and woolens. In German}', of thirty-two companies 
enumerated in a table I have before me, only six show any divi- 
dend whatever for the last year, and the aggregate accounts show 
a loss of ^1,800,000 on the year's operations. Of the silk trade 
in France, which is one of the great branches of their industry, 
it appears, from a i)aper I have befi)re me, that there are about 
30,000 silk looms at Lyons, and nearly half of these are now idle. 
The number of weavers now out of employment is roughly esti- 
mated at from twelve to fifteen thousand. I might follow these 
general statements by picturing the distress in all these great and 
rich countries, compared with which the great suffering of our 
people is insignificant. 

WITH us THK WORST IS OVER, 

and the vast industry which gives employment to the great body 
of our people — that of agriculture, is now extremely prosperous. 
It is a common saying that " the farmers are growing rich," and 
as they grow rich other industries will thrive, and trade revive. 
To attribute the distresses, which I know you sufl:er in common 
with the rest of mankind, to any causes growing out of the ad- 
ministration of our Government, is extreme folly. Unlike the 
laws of most European countries, our laws are framed, as far as 
possible, to promote industry, to [>rotect labor, and distribute 
wealth. Here we give to every man the same privileges, civil 
and political, whether he be rich or poor, or whatever may be 



^9 

his condition. He must enter into competition with others, but 
he has no discriminations against him. The remedy for periodi- 
cal depressions no liuman mind can point out or administer. 
That must be the result of tin\e, of industry, of economy. No 
doubt soon, 

INDUSTRY WILL REVIVE, 

and we may expect a season of pro8perit> . The poor do not 
suffer alone from hard times. The first blow must fall upon 
those who have property investments, which are swept away, and 
then the evil falls upon all classes alike. All that you can ask 
of the Government is that it will administer the limited powers 
conferred upon it with the same intelligence and economy that 
you w^ould expect of private citizens, doing all it can within its 
limited powers to confer the greatest good upon the greatest 
number. This, I believe, is now being done by the National 
Government. 

STRIKES. 

Every man of you is deeply interested in the strength and 
power of this Government, though its operations may be far 
from you. This was shown in the important services rendered 
by the General Government in the 

RECENT WIDE EXTENDED STRIKES 

by the em^iloyes of railroads, which reached from Philadelphia to 
New Orleans, affected all the great trunk lines of the country, 
and for a time paralyzed several powerful States. For a time it 
threatened civil war and anarchy, and caused a large destruction 
of life and }>roperty. The Administration was called upon by 
the Governors of West Virginia and Maryland, two Democratic 
States, to aid in putting down domestic violence. Our small 
army was scattered over the Western country. The last House 
of Representatives had refused to appropriate for pay or supplies 
for the army, lest forsooth it might be used in a State to put 
down domestic violence. These calls were promptly met by 
President Hayes, and, by a judicious use of the small force at 
his command, by the skillful action of the officers in command, 
especially of General Hancock and General Schofield, the reg- 
ular army was the chief means of suppressing domestic violence 



:50 

extending to many States, and which could almost be classified 
as civil war. lio just man will withhold from the Administration 
tair praise for a difficult task well done. These strikes bring prom- 
inently into American politics the contest l)etween capital and 
labor that for many years disturbed Great Britain, and was the foun- 
dation of the scenes of the reign of terror during the French 
Revolution in 1793. Happily, in this country our strikes have 
been local and unimportant, but the great change made in onr 
industries since the war, and the enormous enlargement of our 
mining and manufacturing industries — the great increase in the 
number of corporations and their extended power and influence, 
compel us to consider this fpiestion, and, if possible, to tind a 
remedy. When labor is chictly contined to the 

CULTIVATION OF THE SOIL 

on separate farms, no contest between capital and labor can arise, 
and where, as in former times, our mechanics were independent 
artisans, each working either alone or with a few others in shops 
scattered through the country, there could be no such trouble. But 
when great corporations or individuals employ large numbers of 
persons who depend upon their daily labor for their daily bread, 
and whose wages may be affected at any time by the will of the 
capitalist, there has been, and always will be, an irrepressible 
conflict between the man who furnishes or directs the capital 
and the laborer who does the work. When to this is addcjd the 
fact that, by recent consolidations, great railroad companies have 
been formed, each doing a transportation business larger than 
the whole transportation on the Mississippi or on the lakes in 
the North, with the power in the officers of the company to 
change at pleasure the rate of freight, and tlie wages of employes, 
it was inevitable that the conflict would some time come be- 
tween the corporations and the employes. 

THE WILL OF FOUR MEN. 

Let me illustrate the enormous power that is now practically 
concentrated within the will of four men. When the war broke 
out the common cry of the West was that no rebel cannon 
should threaten the commerce of the Mississippi Valley. Our 
commerce should flow untaxed to the sea. 



31 

The fiitii-e tonnage passing any given point on the Mississippi 
River is now estimated to be 3,000,000 tons. 

The great lakes on the North have been spoken of since the 
discovery of America as being the wonderful provision of nature 
for the vast internal commerce of the continent. The whole ton- 
nage passing at a given point on the line of the lakes is about 
3,000,000 tons. 

The Erie canal in New York, from Buffalo to Albany, has 
Ijeen extolled as a work of master statesmen, which has contrib- 
uted more to the interior developement of this country than any 
single work, and has immortalized the name of De Witt Clinton 
and others. The entire tonnage of this canal during the last year 
is officially stated at 2,418,423, and of all the New York canals, 
including the Erie, at 4,172,179 tons. 

These three water arteries of commerce, two natural and one 
artiiicial, furnish a tonnage of 10,172,179 tons, and a few years 
ago were, practically, the sole means of transit between the East 
and the West and the North and the South. Now, within a 
very few years, and mainly since the close of the war, there have 
been built up four grand trunk lines of railway reaching from the 
Atlantic seaboard far away into the West, with their lines in all 
directions like the branches of great trees, whose organization 
extends to almost every hamlet in the Mississippi Valley or the 
Atlantic slope, with a commerce so vast that in comparison with 
it the great water lines of communication become insignificant. 

Tons. 

The Erie Railway carried last year ^'^^^'nP 

New York Central Railway carried last year *''^2^Q^? 

Pennsylvania Railroad carried last year 9,9.^2,911 

Baltimore and Ohio Railroad carried last year (estimated) 5,000,000 

Or an aggregate of... 27,649,502 

Being nearly three times as much as the entire commerce by water. 

THIS IxMMENSE COMMERCE, 

which touches the business and home and life of every citizen ot 
the United States, east or west, within the reach of its influence, 
is controlled in all its parts by the ultimate will of four men ; 
for, though there are many agents emi»loyed in this vast business, 
with boards of directors and intermediate superintendents, yet, 
practically, the executive and controlling power of these vast 



32 

corporations rests with their presidents, whose will or i)leasnrc 
may raise the freight on produce, and thus effect every farmer in 
the land, or may raise or lower the wages of every employe, and 
thus eftect the bread and life of every one de]>endent upon these 
laboring men. 

It is just to say that the gentlemen holding these important 
positions are among the ablest and most sagacious of the business 
men of this country, but they must necessarily be governed in 
the main by the interest of the corporations they represent, and 
must look to those interests as the dominating and controlling 
motive that nmst guide their acts. A few years ago the freight 
on these roads was deemed to be unduly high, and this aroused 
the whole farming interest of the West, under the name of 
Granofers, who were able to secure hostile lei>:islation in some of 
the States, and so to control public opinion that the freights in 
due time were reduced. But more potent than all, the 

SUDDEN DEPRESSION OF BUSINESS 

caused by tlie panic of 1878, led to a rivalry and competition 
between these great lines tliat in a short time reduced the rates 
for freight and passengers below the actual cost of the business, 
thus tending to destroy the capital invested in more than two- 
thirds of the railway lines in the United States and greatly crip- 
pling the financial condition of the trunk lines. These corpora- 
tions have endeavored in various ways to make agreements, but 
either because they were not faithfully observed, or from the 
inherent difficulty of making combinations between powerful 
rivals, these agreements have been successively broken and aban- 
doned, and now it may be said tliat, on an average, the amount 
received for freight and passengers does not pay the actual cost 
of running the lines. 

The result has been that the railroad companies, not willing to 
see their property entirely destroyed, have gradually reduced the 
rates of wages of the employes until, if we can believe what has 
been said, in some cases they are barely sufficient to pay for the 
merest necessari(!S of life. Hence the strikes. 

It has always been feared that our republican system of gov- 
ernment, Avhich depends upon tlie will of the nuvjority, could not 
long survive the condition of attairs developed by these strikes. 



33 

Macau lay and Allison have both described, in prophetic language, 
the effects of a 

STRUGGLE BETWEEN CAPiTAJ- AND LABOR 

in a government like oui-s, but, like most English writers, they 
overlooked the strong conservative power in a government by 
the people, where the majority must always be independent 
farmers, mechanics, and working men who have respect for law, 
religion, atid ordei-. We have, no doubt, large numbers of men 
who will not reason about this matter, but will rush to the torch 
or to crime in curing what they regard as wrongs, but tlie great 
body of our people have always shown^ suthcient moderation and 
intelligence to lead them to find a peaceful and proper remedy 
for all the ills which life may develop. 

And now, fellow-citizens, I beg you not to believe that this is 
an easy task, and not to reject counsels of moderation and for- 
bearance. The laborer is worthy of his hire, and, in this country 
especially, should always receive enough to maintain his family 
in decency and comfort. But we cannot secure this great bless- 
ing by intimidating capital, by burning houses, by preventing 
other people from laboring, or by any violence or crime. Capital, 
when threatened, shrinks aw\ay, and your labor cannot be em- 
ployed without capital. You can only encourage its employment 
by a reasonable prospect of a just reward in the way of interest 
or profit. 

I will not undertake in this speech to state ideas that have be- 
come convictions, that are not now entertained for the first time, 
because it would take too long ; but my conclusion was, years 
ago, when this subject was under debate in tlie Senate, that the 

FRAMERS OF THE CONSTITUTION 

had wisely provided an arbiter to govern, by general laws, inter- 
State railways, and may in this way prevent controversies between 
capital and labor where they effect the commerce of the country. 
That arbiter is the Congress of the United States. No State is 
broad enough to deal with this question, for these railroad lines 
extend through many States. No local authority can deal with 
it, because the local authorities may be overawed, or under the 
influence of passion or resentment. Mayors and governors, and 
6 



84 

local militia, are well enough for tlie ordinary protection of 
society, hut they are not iitted to deal with a contest between 
great bodies of citizens in the same community, where the divi- 
sions are so wide and broad as to amount to domestic violence or 
civil war. The National Government is expressly authorized to 
aid a State in putting down domestic violence, and the Congress 
of the United States is expressly authorized to regulate the com- 
merce between foreign nations and the several States, and the 
commerce thus provided for is now conducted mainly by these 
great lines of railway. The framers of the Constitution could 
not foresee railroads, or the vast extension of our country and its 
varied interests; but they did provide that commerce, in all its 
forms, foreign and domestic, by whatever agency conducted, 
might be controlled by an arbiter more free from local prejudice 
than any other that could be selected. 

MY HOPE, THEN, IS 

that Congress will pass laws to establish and limit maximum rates 
of freight, so that the production of a farmer may not be in 
danger of coniiscation by exorbitant rates ; that it will limit and 
restrain the cutting and reduction of freights so as to destroy the 
ability of railroad companies to pay fair prices for honest labor, 
and prevent the companies from making paupers of men who 
perform essential functions in commerce. Congress may thus, 
by wise general laws, control the most powerful corporations as 
well as the humblest citizens. 

There is one thing, however, which all men ought to under- 
stand, whatever may be their wrongs or injuries, that in our free 
system there is but one remedy, and that is by peaceful, lawful 
appeals to the constituted authorities, both State and National. 
No man has a right by violence or crime to redress his injuries. 
No government can live where mobs can make laws and prevent 
other laborers from working. The right of a laborer to refuse 
to work without such pay as he demands is clear and unques- 
tionable ; but, whatever civil remedies the law may give him, he 
cannot resort to violence to prevent either the movements of 
commerce or the employment of others, without endangering 
our whole system and encountering the full force and power of 
the government. The very fact that the \ 



35 



STOPPING OF TRAINS 



on the four great lines of railway would bring hunger and want 
to millions of laboring people, and deprive other millions of a 
market for their product, would array against striking laborers 
who resorted to violence, the whole power, not only of the gov- 
ernment, but the moral and physical force of the balance of the 
community. When laboring men or any class of men, resort to 
violence and crime to protect even real rights, they must be dealt 
with in the same way as others who violate the law, however 
much men may sympathize with their distress. I am stating 
g only what the law has always provided, and with full sympathy 

in an honest demand by laboring men for fair wages for a fair 
day's work. We must obey the law and we must punish any 
violation of the law. Life must be protected and property also. 
These are the conditions upon which society exists, and no party 
can temporize or hesitate in the face of an open revolt against 
these principles of public order. But, while this is true, we must 
not fail to examine the complaint of the humblest citizen and 
give him all the protection and all the remedy that a just gov- 
ernment can give. 

And now, fellow-citizens, in conclusion, allow me to express 
80 far as language enables me to do so, my heartfelt thanks for 
the courtesy and kindness you always have shown me, not only 
during this short visit, but in all the time I have lived among 
you. I can only say, I thank you. 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



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